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Photo: Nettie Adams The Mayne Queen gets a royal welcome at the Lyall Harbour dock on Saturna Island. The occasion was her 50th year in service. Not one but three bithday cakes were carried aboard, see page 2 for cake photo. LNG export bonanza could impact Gulf Islands Unist’ot’en tour of the islands and Lower Patrick Brown Mainland- Dave Ages The National Energy Board (NEB) has approved many as it pleases. On the final stop of the recent Unist’ot’en tour, in a packed hall in Vancouver, export licences for 20 LNG export proposals in BC. Five Only one LNG proposal, Petronas-owned Pacific special guest speaker Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian of these have the potential to impact the Gulf Islands. Northwest LNG near Prince Rupert, has an agreement Chiefs called for solidarity with the Unist’ot’en Clan. He expressed grave All five proposals are in the ‘early stages’, and are being with the BC government. This was signed following its concern with the bias of the RCMP in supporting resource extraction and pursued despite industry predictions of market gluts adoption during a specially called legislative session pipeline companies. He urged companies, governments and police to respect and falling prices by the time they could become this summer. indigenous rights and title. operational. No concerns. Maybe it was such a good deal for The tour covered six communities in six days—Victoria, Cowichan, Salt NEB Export Licences: No Petronas that they wanted it signed into law before the Spring, Galiano, Sechelt and Vancouver. The Unist’ot’en were represented by Concerns BC government changed its mind. three Hereditary Chiefs—Weli´ (Catherine Michell), Ltátén, (Doris Rosso) and Maskabu (Helen Michell) along with Unist’ot’en Camp spokesperson Freda The National Energy Board is required to issue licences The Five South Coast Proposals Huson. Speaking to overflow crowds in every venue, the chiefs and Freda talked for natural gas export only if, by law, it is satisfied that None of the five south coast and Vancouver Island of the history of their clan, of their deep connection to their land and of their Canada’s requirements have been met. While future based schemes has such a provincial agreement; none determination to protect their yintah (territory). They emphasized the guidance natural gas production, and Canadian consumption, has satisfied the necessary environmental reviews. they had received from previous generations and their responsibility to future may be difficult to forecast, the NEB has taken the They are: generations. position that the potential production from estimated Malahat First Nation/ Steelhead LNG:plans are The Chiefs spoke of the centrality of the Healing Centre being constructed reserves, combined with US potential production (in a for a floating liquefaction and deepsea ship loading at the Camp. This Healing Centre, now partially complete (and already being North America-wide free market) will in any event be facility at Bamberton, on Saanich Inlet (see previous used) embodies everything held dear by the Unist’ot’en people—healing sufficient to satisfy any conceivable Canadian market article, Island Tides, September 3). The facility would through nature, building community, and reaching out to other peoples in a demand. be supplied with natural gas through an underwater positive way. So no concerns. Apparently anyone can receive an pipeline from Cherry Point, Washington through Eleven-year-old Destiny, granddaughter of Chief Ltátén, also told of how NEB export licence. Boundary Pass, south of Saturna, South Pender, and she had to help David Suzuki with his answers to the ‘Entrance Protocol’ At any rate, says the board in one of many Salt Spring Islands. The gas would travel from questions that need to be answered in order to visit the Unist’ot’en Camp. essentially identical letters to licence applicants: ‘the northeast BC via the Spectra Gas pipeline, and enter The Unist’ot’en expressed their deep gratitude for the many expressions of board believes that not all LNG export licences issued the US at Sumas. solidarity they have received—volunteers, materials and funds. A large amount by the board will be used or used to the full allowance’. It is unclear at present who speaks for the Malahat UNIST’OT’EN, please turn to page 3 So no concerns. Apparently the NEB can issue as LNG BONANZA, please turn to page 9 JTBUUIFTF6(5,286&2))(( MPDBUJPOT MPPLGPSUIFA*TMBOE5JEFTZFMMPXCPYFTPVUTJEFPSSBDLTJOTJEF 4JEOFZ#FBDPO"WFOVF /BOBJNP7*$POGFSFODF$FOUSF 1BSLTWJMMF)FSJUBHF$FOUSF.BMM 4PVUI%VODBO4VO7BMMFZ.BMM /BOBJNP#FBVGPSU$FOUSF $PVSUFOBZ4PVUIHBUF$FOUSF $MJòF"WFOVF %VODBO$PXJDIBO$PNNPOT.BMM /BOBJNP$PSOFS*TMBOE)XZ!)BNNPOE#BZ3E 1PSU"MCFSOJ4IPQQFST%SVH.BSU1MB[B UI"WF .JMM#BZ*TMBOE)JHIXBZ!'SBZOF3E /BOBJNP4PVUI1BSLXBZ1MB[B $BNQCFMM3JWFS5IF7JMMBHF 8JMMPX1PJOU www.islandtides.com Page 2, Island Tides, September 17, 2015 ROUND THE ISLANDS ‘Thank you, Mayne Queen for 50 years of Splendid Service!’- Priscilla Ewbank On September 8, enthusiastic Saturna Islanders showed up at the ferry dock to celebrate our venerable Mayne Queen on the anniversary of her 50th year of serving us Gulf Islanders and to pay honour to the crews that run her so well. She blew her whistle most of the way down Navy Channel and arrived at her midmorning stop with flags flying. Islanders cheered—it was so exciting, especially for all the kids, this event being the culmination of their first day at school. Disembarking passengers were probably somewhat confused by the delightful fooferaw, but all rose to the occasion. A wonderful banner made by Jillian Tebbitt was displayed as she docked, that said it all: ‘Thank you, Mayne Queen for 50 years of splendid service!’ We piled up the stairways to the upstairs lounge, lugging three cakes from Haggis Farm Bakery for the day’s festivities. Saturna thanked the crew and ‘party’ organizer, Captain Michael Toevs with a corsage, a print of Saturna Island with all of her physical and cultural highlights painted on it—including the Mayne Queen—and everyone singing a rousing ‘Happy Birthday!’ A quick enjoyment of cake together, smiles and laughter and then those who were not sailing on to Mayne and Pender disembarked and waved her goodbye as she sailed on to Village Bay, Otter Bay, and Swartz Bay. Photo: Nettie Adams During her midday lay-over at Swartz, many of her former crew members came to visit with current crew members, sign Not one cake but three for the Mayne Queen on her birthday tour of the Southern Islands—a normal Tuesday morning schedule. the visitor book , eat cake and enjoy the celebration. From the Saturna Islanders came aboard at Lyall Harbour to present greetings and the cakes. Priscilla Ewbank (centre) dreamed up the tribute. crew’s comments it was easy to hear that they love the Mayne She has also been a leader in getting BC Ferries to see sense about proposed schedule changes for 2017. Queen and are as proud of her as we are. The crews value being a part of Islander’s lives, getting to know us, and making a 1A Boat Ramp Road, Brentwood Bay, BC V8M 1N9. of up to 117km/hour were recorded at the weather station on difference as we all grow older—ship and all! The Committee will shortlist up to seven artists by the roof of Saturna Island elementary school, just 2km/hour Bill and Mae Henderson Song Catching On September 30, each of whom will be commissioned to develop short of hurricane force. Rainfall was heaviest on the ‘Take Back Our Land’ is catching on as a theme song for the conceptual designs by October 30. mainland—Vancouver Airport (YVR) received 68mm, but the election. Victor Anthony tells us that one hundred Gabriolans Three design concepts will be selected by November 10, after North Share recorded 131mm, and Squamish 183mm. In recently made a Youtube rendition of it. Don’t miss it at which the selected artists will work with BC Ferries to ‘refine contrast, North Pender got 21mm, and Victoria airport, 17mm. https://youtu.be/FoJp-kmErKA. And then get your friends selected final designs to specifications’ by December 7. BC Hydro estimates that nearly 50% of their customers on Salish Orca together and make your own version. Let Island Tides know if The final designs for the will be delivered to BC Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland lost power during Salish Eagle you do! Ferries for fabrication by December 11; for and the storm—710,000 people. This makes the storm the biggest Salish Raven by next January 29. power outage event in BC Hydro history. BC Hydro called in Salish Designs Sought for New Ferries Detailed information on the process can be found on the personnel from Kamloops, Vernon, Prince George, Smithers, BC Ferries is inviting Coast Salish artists to make proposals for First People’s Cultural Council’s website: www.fpcc.ca. Terrace, Williams Lake, Fort St John, 100 Mile House, decoration of the three new Intermediate Class vessels, Salish Data on Frogs and Salamanders Campbell River, Courtenay, Nanaimo, Victoria, Port Alberni, Orca Salish Eagle Salish Raven , , and . Juvenile frogs and salamanders are beginning their fall Duncan and Qualicum to deal with the power outages, and The First People’s Cultural Council will facilitate the migrations after the recent rain that hit Vancouver Island. The managed to restore power to 705,000 people within 72 hours. commission of three original designs from artists affiliated with Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) is asking the public to keep an Power was restored to the remainder of houses shortly after. one of the 25 Coast Salish nations. eye out for frogs and salamanders on roadways, and to report Gabriola Artists’ Special Weekend BC Ferries is looking for beautiful designs that both express any observations. HAT is hoping to continue identifying places Did you know that Gabriola Island has the sixth highest and advance Coast Salish culture. The designs are to be in ‘any where frogs and salamanders are most at risk on roads, and to concentration of artists in the workforce in Canada? This ‘Isle art form that can translate to digital images’. develop a plan to reduce the impact of roads on frogs and of the Arts’ finds more and more artists moving to Gabriola each There will be a three-step process for selection. The first step amphibians. year. The Annual Thanksgiving Studio Tour sees approximately is to mail or courier your submission of ‘Expressions of Interest’, HAT is also asking the public to report any sightings of 15 new artists participating every year. by September 24 at 5pm, to the First People’s Cultural Council, bullfrogs, which are an introduced and invasive species. Each year on Thanksgiving weekend 70 artists open their Report your sightings by filling out a form found at doors to all those who want to check out what they’ve been up www.hat.bc.ca. to. For more information, please visit artsgabriola.ca or phone Unusual Wind Storm Sweeps West Coast 250-247-7409. 0 Wind and rain storms took the west coast of BC by surprise in late August and early September, knocking out power in several Did you appreciate this article? Help Island Tides places. The storm which took place in late August has been pay for publishing it! Mail or phone in your $30 compared by many to the big wind storm of 2006, which
Photo: Toby Snelgrove, SNELGROVEimages.com A serene day at Montague Harbour, Galiano Island.
WATER ACTS from page 3 unveiled in 2016. As with the BC Environmental Assessment The key to some of these glaring contradictions really comes California provides clean water, relatively cheap food, an process, in comparison with its predecessor The Water Act, in section 10 of the BC’s Act. In this section, the government abundance of raw material and a relatively cheap seasonal section 13 of the new act fast-tracks the granting of licences and gives itself a new power to repeatedly and for an indefinite labour force. As the water table continues to be pumped and to authorizations to corporations and reduces the public amount of time issue short-term authorizations to the same drop faster than it can be replenished, Californians understand consultation process. As in the much reviled NEB process, only parties, for the same purpose and in the same time. that natural capital will diminish and the services it provides parties determined by the ‘decision-makers’ to have a legitimate For certainty, a use approval may be issued authorizing a will become scarcer. claim can file for a hearing. person to divert water from a source of water supply for a water The most remarkable thing about California’s response to As is customary in Canadian legislation, environmental use purpose in relation to an appurtenancy, if any, specified in the problems posed by the drought is the understanding that objectives are left largely at the discretion of ministers and the use approval, whether or not a use approval was previously there is a need to move beyond the limits of the largely cabinet or their proxies, ‘decision-makers’. With regards to issued authorizing the person to divert water from the same technological solutions of the past, and address potential environmental objectives such as ‘critical flows’ the decision- water source supply for the same water use purpose in relation impacts on local ecosystems and biodiversity at a local or makers are left to loosely ‘consider’ (s.15) objectives—there are to the same appurtenancy. regional level, by empowering communities. That means no stringent mandatory obligations or constraints. In the same As legal counsel for West Coast Environmental Law has managing water locally to preserve local values and local vein while the power exists to list some streams as ‘sensitive’, pointed out, this is legislation written for the particular interests economies. In California, concerns over the future sustainability there is no clear set of objective obligations to guide listing or of hydraulic fracking: of the rural water table have been addressed in a hard-hitting de-listing. Water usage is loosely governed by the ill-defined ‘For some time the Oil and Gas commission has granted and revolutionary document, the 2014 The Sustainable concepts of ‘beneficial use’ and ‘efficient use’, which encompass short-term approvals for water use for fracking, which currently Groundwater Management Act. One of the remarkable ‘private use’, and can always justify economic and commercial can be for up to 24 months (the Water Act used to limit short- features of this act is that in spite of the fact that California has use over environmental priorities. In fact, environmental term approvals to 12 months, but was extended a year or two the most advanced water distribution system California concerns of section 15 stand in diametric opposition to back). However, if the oil and gas companies take longer than recognizes that: ‘The state’s water management system is allowances made immediately after, in section 16 for mitigation. 24 months to frack, the Commission has been issuing repeat unsustainable. The system is unable to reliably meet human Industrial damage is feasible on the ‘fiat’ of a decision-maker authorizations to the same companies—a practice that economic and ecological needs.’ and mitigation is highly flexible. There is no actual obligation Ecojustice has recently challenged in court.’ To understand just how remarkable the Californian Act is to repair or off-set in situ, and whatever obligations may exist Given the importance that the current provincial one needs only compare it with BC’s new Water Sustainability are not even obligatory but merely conditional. They ‘may be government has staked in the development of LNG, it seems Act, which was tabled in May 2014 and which will come into required’: that BC’s Bill 18 Water Sustainability Act, as Bill 14 the Parks force in 2016. The Californian Act has two basic principles: ‘With the consent of the applicant, the terms and conditions Act before it, does not represent an attempt to move beyond ‘Groundwater is best managed at the local or regional level,’ and of an authorization or change approval may require that the the lessons of the past. The Water Sustainability Act is an ‘The state will only intervene on a short-term where local applicant take compensatory mitigation measures on a attempt to greenwash the needs of industry. It is strangely out- agencies fail.’ To facilitate local implementation the state of different stream or aquifer than the stream or aquifer in respect of-step with the needs which the California drought has made California is providing $100 million for groundwater planning of which the application is made’. clear to the rest of the world. and management. In other words, in crafting its Act, the state FITFIR Unlike its Californian counterpart, this Act is not really an of California developed a means to implement and enforce a In keeping with the custom to date, water usage remains attempt to protect water, within the context and challenges bottom-up approach to water sustainability in which local ‘FITFIR’ (First-in-Time, First-in Right). This is problematic for posed by a growing anthropogenic drought which is communities, agencies and conservancies manage a number of reasons. In spite of the growing legal consensus increasingly recognized as the new normal. This is not the groundwater for collective environmental benefit. that recognizes the priority of aboriginal right, this act does not management of groundwater for the beneficial use of local By placing the responsibility and implementation control include the priority of First Nations’ rights to water. Given the communities which stand to be affected for decades to come. with local and regional agencies, and providing the means to controversy surrounding a number of mining projects in this This is legislation written to accommodate the rights of do so, the Californian Act places the decision-making directly province which have adversely affected First Nations’ use of industry. This is an act that reflects a perpetuation of the with the communities that are most affected. Local water and fisheries, such as the Mount Polley mine disaster, questionable concept of ‘sustainability’ proposed by the communities determine what will most affect them. To one senses that the Act is out-of-sync with reality and biased in Brundtland Commission 30-year-ago in response to the understand what this means, one needs only compare the favour of corporate rights to pollute. Similarly, throughout the challenges posed by limits to growth, in which corporate bottom-up implications of this legislation with the top-down province where logging interests affect the use of crown lands, interests are accommodated to perpetuate business-as-usual, approach to environment impact assessments that has and particularly on the east side of Vancouver Island where the with a new coat of green paint. governed the National Energy Board’s (NEB) controversial Dunsmuir Land Grant has placed half the island in the hands Just as California now recognizes the limits of technological consultation policies for the past four years, which have of private logging companies, which are held to a lower adapatation, so should BC. This drought is an affirmation of the repeatedly been found to unduly limit public input. standard, water quality and supply are affected by the prior limits of sustainability. If ‘California’s current extreme drought BC’s Water Sustainability Act, which nominally has the ownership and licensing of corporate interests. There have been must be a lesson for managing water in a warmer, more densely same aims as the Californian Act, takes a top-down approach for the past decade growing concerns that these licences need populated world…’ then the BC Water Sustainability Act has and in the view of some critics: ‘doesn’t have the necessary to be curtailed to protect community watersheds. Furthermore, completely failed to connect with that reality, because it does enforceable language and mandatory standards to actually throughout the province, agricultural water grandfathered not understand that business-as-usual, and the water protect freshwater in BC.’ (Gwen Barlee, Wilderness 0 FITFIR licences allowing the virtually unlimited use of water management system it exploits, are no longer sustainable. Committee). remain a serious fisheries concern that cannot be adequately This article first appeared in the Bulletin of the Canadian Enforcement will be addressed through a series of addressed by this legislation. Society for Environmental Biology. ‘regulations’ which are being developed and which will be The Simple High-Perfoormance atures ter Fe Wa Closer The Water System Experts s & Septic Systeme Since 1972 nd Po dwater Systems than you • Groun Eljljen GSF…YYouro A orddable bl lls & MAYNE ISLAND We think. 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eljen.com www.vanislewater.com mayneislandchamber.ca www.islandtides.com Page 6, Island Tides, September 17, 2015 NEWS SHORTS Former NDP MP to Run for Greens Jose Nunez-Melo has been nominated to represent the Green Party of Canada in the new riding of Vimy, Quebec. Nunez-Melo was elected as MP in 2011 in a nearby riding, under the orange banner of the NDP. He was not nominated by the NDP in this election, though the reason for this is uncertain—it has been suggested that he was blocked from running by party brass, though NDP leader Tom Mulcair told reporters that Nunez-Melo did not want to follow the rules of nomination and therefore could not be a candidate. Green Party leader Elizabeth May said she was ‘very pleased’ to welcome Jose Nunez-Melo to the Green caucus. ‘We weren’t in the same party, but we had the same spirit,’ she said. Park for South Okanagan-Similkameen? The BC government is once again considering the creation of a national park in the south Okanagan. The idea was first explored in 2002, and was proposed as feasible in 2011. The BC government withdrew the idea shortly afterwards however, Photo: David Greer stating that there was a lack of community support for the project. Now, independent polling has shown strong and An epic battle between South and North Pender developed at the second annual South Pender Growers growing support of the park. and Makers Heritage Market on Labour Day Weekend. Hundreds of islanders and visitors gathered for The BC government is welcoming comments from the public the market on the grounds of the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd, South Pender. until October 12. BC Parks will review all comments received and release its recommendations by early 2016. To learn more, go to www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/protected-areas- the Moberly Valley until a judicial review of the construction populations, health and diversity. The agreement lists climate framework-s-okanagan.html. permits in the area is undertaken. Both the West Moberly and change as an issue too large to be tackled within the confines of BC Hydro to Halt Site C Construction in the Prophet River First Nations are calling this decision significant the agreement, and instead turns to other strategies for the Moberly River Valley Until Permits Reviewed and are awaiting the judicial review in November to argue their protection and conservation of polar bears. cases further. Continued Opposition Enbridge’s Line 9 Construction work preparing for the Site C dam began at the 5 Countries Agree to Polar Bears Protection end of July, despite heavy opposition from First Nations and Work was recently disrupted in Port Hope, Southern Ontario, The first of its kind, the recent international agreement on polar farmers. BC Hydro began work road building and clearing land. where testing for Enbridge Corporation’s Line 9 pipeline is BC Hydro notified the Treaty 8 Tribal Association that bear protection hopes to guarantee the long-term survival of underway. Activists converged on the site of the hydrostatic several trees in the Moberly Valley were to be cut, some old these bears in the wild. Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, testing to show their continued opposition to the pipeline, growth. Members of the Treaty 8 First Nations were and the United States all signed a ten-year plan during the maintaining that the newly mandated tests do not in any way immediately opposed, as the targeted trees are home to several September 2 Polar Bear Range States meeting in Ilulissat, mitigate the dangers of Line 9. The new tests involve running eagle nests. The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations Greenland. The plan focuses on seven key threats to the survival water through three sections of the aging pipeline, and were filed an injunction against BC Hydro, which was heard in the of polar bears—climate change being the first threat. The ordered by the National Energy Board (NEB) in June. circumpolar nature of the agreement is designed to help the five Supreme Court of BC on August 28. While the court did not NEWS SHORTS please turn to page 8 grant the injunction, BC Hydro did agree to avoid any work in countries involved collaborate to conserve polar bear LETTERS from page 5 SHORELINE • Specializing in water campaign goes on. Canada must prioritize international development by DESIGN access over steep So what is Harper’s solution to the problem? Call the committing to increasing our aid spending to 0.7% of our Gross & rugged election and let the campaign run longer—after all, all the National Income by the year 2020. C’mon, pull yourself away party leaders were campaigning anyway. Naturally it begs the from the barbecue or hammock for just a few minutes, or maybe terrain question: why would he do this? The most likely answer is an hour and do a little research so that you are armed for that • Fully insured because he has much more money to spend than the other fall election. Better yet, let your MP know your thoughts while parties and expects to win by outspending them. We need to he or she is home enjoying those hazy, lazy, crazy days of late • Excellent make sure this does not happen. We need to make sure summer. references Harper knows Canadians are not to be bought off by a taxable Connie Lebeau, Victoria Peter Christenson • 250-858-9575 Child Benefits ‘Christmas’ in July. Nor will we be fooled by Conservative Economics: A Disaster www.shorelinedesign.ca spending taxpayers’ money to advertise government Dear Editor: programs to the tune of $750 million. Nor will Canadians According to Stephen Harper, the coming election offers a forget the closing of Veteran Affairs offices, the gutting of choice between the certainty of Conservative economic environmental regulations, the cutting of health care transfer expertise on the one hand... or the risk of Liberal or New IS YOUR payments, and the ongoing Senate scandal to mention only Democrat inexperience. However, a closer examination reveals a few. a different picture. It is the Conservatives who have the shaky WELL WATER To bring the important issues involved in this election to economic record. SAFE TO DRINK? the attention of Canadians a group of concerned citizens has For example, instead of diversifying the economy, Harper Contamination can occur come together to create a blog titled www.ready-set-vote.ca. has put all his eggs in one basket (the tar sands). Farmers on the without changes in colour or Our main goal in creating the site is to encourage an prairies know all about diversification. To cover the possibilities taste. Be safe, test annually. intelligent discussion of the kind of country we want Canada of crop failure or an unexpected drop in market price, they plant to be going forward. Our major premise is that we as a a variety of crops—wheat, canola, legumes, oats, barley, flax, or country cannot afford four more years of a Harper some such mix. They know it would be disastrous to speculate 250-656-1334 Conservative government. We are of the opinion the on one crop and be wrong. Harper has done just that with oil— Conservative party is not worthy of the trust of the people of an inexcusable risk that went wrong. Canada. The Conservatives have tried to project the image of business In the end we hope our effort will further educate and expertise by showcasing a ‘balanced budget’. The Huffington encourage voters to become fully involved in the democratic Postexamined this budget and listed ‘Seven Conservative Tricks fax: 250-656-0443 Website: www.mblabs.com process by casting a vote in the election on October 19. We to Faking a Balanced Budget’. It wasn’t balanced at all. In fact, believe this election will be one of the most significant in the Conservatives hardly know what a balanced budget looks Email: [email protected] Canadian history. 2062 Unit 4 Henry Ave. West, Sidney, B.C. V8L 5Y1 like. They have produced nothing but ‘deficit budgets’ in each We look forward to your consideration and participation. of the previous seven years. That is why our national debt has Frank Frketich, Denman Island sky-rocketed in the Harper years. Your Total Ask Candidates About International Aid Harper warns us never to trust the spendthrift Liberals. Our Water Solution Dear Editor: memories are so short. It was during the Liberal years that the Gosh, it’s been hard to think about an upcoming national two ‘spendthrifts’, Chrétien and Paul Martin, reduced the Gulf Islands Water Treatmeent election while in the midst of summer. However I, for one, want national debt by an unprecedented $81 billion. Since then, to know which party will commit to getting us closer to the goal Harper has increased the national debt by $176 billion—also of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) for international aid unprecedented. Economic expertise? ~ Rainwater Harvesting spending. Please note that 0.7% is less than 1%. Can we not find His poor track record in economics has been confirmed by a ~ Water treatment for wells, it in our hearts and in our pockets to give those less fortunate a recent study by two Canadian economists, Jim Stanford and surface supplies & seawater hand-up? Our aid contributions stand at just 0.24% of GNI, and Jordon Brennon. They conclude that ‘Stephen Harper and his ~ Filtration & Disinfection have dropped from $5.65 billion in 2012, to $5 billion in 2013, Conservatives are running the most poorly performing economy ~ Slow sand filtration to $4.2 billion in 2014. the country has seen since the Second World War’. Their study ~ Small systems Health Meanwhile, the UK has passed a bill that enshrines in law its ‘examined the economic data from nine Canadian Authority approvals commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) governments... using 16 indicators of economic progress, Bacteria, Arsenic, Turbidity, Tannins-TOC, Hardnesss, much more! on aid every year, making it the first G7 country to meet the UN’s including job creation, GDP growth, export growth, household 45-year-old aid spending target. In 2013, only five other debt and real personal income.’ (Jeremy J. Nuttall, The wwww..watertigerr..net countries—Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Tyee.com, July 31 2015) ViServingctoria The GulfBu Islandsrnaby & BC sinceCoourte 1988nay United Arab Emirates—had met or exceeded the 0.7% aid ‘The Harper government ranked last or second last in 13 of ([email protected]) 412-1110 (604) 630-111 TF:4 1-855-777-1220(2500) 339-6914 spending target. The Netherlands had consistently met the the 16 indicators’, resulting in ‘a score of 8.05 out of 9, with 9 target, but fell short in 2013. LETTERS, please turn to next page www.islandtides.com Island Tides, September 17, 2015, Page 7 Why have we not met the targets to allow Syrian refugees? - Elizabeth May MP Across Canada, our failure to respond to the refugee crisis is times in each visa office for the past 12 months are available provoking outrage. The photo of a toddler, a victim of drowning online. Sponsors are encouraged to consult this link regularly whose aunt lives in Vancouver, has torn at our hearts. Why was to help them plan for the arrival of sponsored refugees.’ his family not admitted to Canada? After years of trying to get Sponsoring organizations must prove financial ability to family members of Syrian-Canadians to Canada I have to cover all the costs for an extended family for a year. All family conclude it is not just ‘red-tape.’ The current system is designed members, even those not coming to Canada, must be listed and to reject refugees. the sponsors able to cover all costs. I have become friends with an amazing woman who lives There is no compassion. There is no sense of urgency. This just outside my riding, but I work for her and her extended is not how Canada responded in the past. This is not the same family as though she was a constituent. We managed to get two system that welcomed the ‘boat people’ of Vietnam. young Syrian men to Canada who had escaped Syria to Jordan. No one (except Stephen Harper) believes we help refugees Their wives had made it to Canada ahead of them. It was a by bombing one side in an ongoing civil war. The truth is the struggle to get them here, but at least they were out of Syria and refugees are not escaping ISIS. They are escaping a war that has able to apply. For most of the Syrian refugees with links to been raging for four years while the world stood by and did Canada they cannot get themselves in a position to be helped. I nothing. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator. have had family members of my Syrian friend actually get out You never hear Stephen Harper mentioning him. That’s of Syria and, with their children in the backseat of their car, have because ISIS is engaged in a war to depose him. ISIS is one of a made it to the gates of the Canadian embassy in Beirut only to number of violent quasi-military forces allied against al-Assad, be turned away by security at the gate. Despite repeated but ISIS is also a lunatic fringe religious cult. Al Qaeda attempts to get an interview or begin the process, the family operatives and al-Nusra are more or less with ISIS in opposing headed back over the border to Syria. It is a nightmare. al-Assad. Hezbollah supports al-Assad. Can anyone imagine We have tried from my constituency office to match up Canada wants any of these factions to be victorious? In the qualified refugees with groups allowed to sponsor them under middle are the suffering and desperate innocents. the complicated and bureaucratic process set up under Stephen To get more refugees to Canada, we start by revoking all the Harper. It’s as though the Conservatives think there are lovely changes made to Canada’s refugee laws under Harper. We need refugee waiting rooms around the world. ‘Take a number, we’ll to accelerate the process, including by sending military planes get to you when we can...’ or vessels to help get people to safety. We should work with the To get a sense of the hurdles to sponsor a Syrian refugee go United Nations and allies to place a no fly zone over Syria, work to the Immigration Canada website. Here is the ‘take a number’ for a cease-fire and an end to hostilities. We need to assist in the Photo: Gerry Smith paragraph: on-going drought, one of the pre-conditions to the crisis. Syrian Digby leapt into his rescuer’s arms after being stuck ‘Considerable time can pass between the time an application refugees don’t want to leave Syria. They are escaping a violent is made and the time the refugees arrive in Canada. The conflict. When it ends many will want to go home. for an hour, high on a cliff above Craddock Beach, selection process for these refugees can fluctuate with the Humanitarian responses must include the quest for peace. 0 South Pender Island. volume of applications received at the visa offices. Processing
LETTERS, from previous page cigarettes in public spaces. Like the king, they were stopped; What’sOn? being the worst possible score.’ Based on economic this time by government funded anti-smoking campaigns, performance, the Harper government was rock bottom. And at public pressure and legislation. VANCOUVER ISLAND & ALL THE GULF ISLANDS the other end of the scale, ‘Lester Pearson has been the most And now in this present time, some people still feel entitled Single-venue (50 words): $39.90 includes image successful prime minister, followed by Pierre Trudeau.’ to high-carbon travelling; even knowing the destructive impacts Multi-venue (70 words): $52.50 includes image But we hardly need such studies to prove their economic of carbon emissions on a finite atmosphere. Payment with order by Visa or MasterCard, please ineptitude. It is obvious. Under the Conservatives we have had Now, I apologize for comparing some citizens with an unjust [email protected] or 250.216.2267 more children living in poverty, more homeless people, more king, or inconsiderate smokers; but the right to burn fossil fuels people depending on soup kitchens, and greater family must be restricted for the good of society. Magna Carta gave Wednesday, September 23 indebtedness. Highly paid jobs have been replaced by low paid medieval society political justice to counter a repressive king; Richard and Lauren Margison—Pender part-time jobs with no benefits. And young people despair of now society needs climate justice to counter devastating climate Concert Society presents Canadian tenor Richard ever owning their own homes. Margison and Lauren Margison, both acclaimed change-related storms. international singers C Pender School Auditorium C Most damning is their tax policy. They keep reducing Chariots had none; but cars now have seat belts. So a 7:30pm C Tickets at Talisman Books and taxation on the rich and on corporations—forcing government restriction of individual rights is sometimes necessary, and Southridge Farms Country Store C PENDER agencies to reduce services to everyone else—thus creating more beneficial, for society's collective well-being. Sunday, September 20 billionaires each year and more paupers. Good economics for And sure, we all share this fossil fuel addiction to some Mayne’s Annual Terry Fox Run—Everyone welcome: the top 1%, but horrible for the rest. degree. Like drug addicts, we need to help each other get runners, bikers, hikers, walkers, strollers, kids, dogs, Even worse is the Conservative policy of promoting the treatment. aunts, uncles: come out to support this worthwhile event; development of the Alberta tar sands at the cost of permanent Government doctors need to treat that fossil fuel burning hot dogs/hamburgers; free ice cream! C Miner’s Bay Park C Registration at 10:30am; run/walk at noon C Contact: damage to the world’s climate. The greenhouse gases created sensation in our gut with clean renewable energy medicine. Kathie 250.539.2399 C MAYNE are causing droughts in the best farmland; are wiping out the Maybe to ease any future fossil fuel withdrawal pains, they could Sunday, September 27 glaciers and snow fields which are reservoirs for next summer’s prescribe electric cars? Engagement Party—please join us to celebrate the engagement water; are destroying forests (by diseases and fires); are Peter Nix, Duncan of Alicia Cormier and Gary Holman C At Harbour House Hotel, 121 destroying the oceans (by acidification and overheating); and BC Ferries Schedules Upper Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island C 4:30pm C To honour the are causing massive damage to islands, coastlines and port cities A version of the following letter was sent to Mr Hendry, spirit of community and sharing, the meal will be potluck style. (by rising oceans and extreme storms). The harm done to RSVP by email: [email protected] C SALT Executive Director of Strategic Communications and SPRING people around the world is a million times greater than the Community Engagement of BC Ferries. paltry economic benefit to Alberta. Is this good economics? Saturday to Monday, October 10, 11 & 12 Harper’s request for us to ‘stay the course’ with the Having attended the August 27 Southern Gulf Islands Ferry 19th Annual Gabriola Thanksgiving Studio Tour—More than 70 artists will open their doors to visitors from Conservatives is like staying the course with the Titanic. Schedule Consultation session on Galiano Island, and as a resident of both Sidney and Galiano, I am writing to you with around the world; Gabriola invites art lovers to Contrary to Harper’s propaganda, Conservative economics is a pick up or download an information-packed disaster. some comments and additional questions, as you requested. brochure and make a day of it; artist details and Doug Carrick, Hornby Island One obvious question that I wished you would have a map available online C 10am-5pm C Free C Info: Magna Carta for The Planet addressed in your opening remarks at this meeting is why such studiotour.artsgabriola.ca C GABRIOLA a radical schedule change to the schedule is necessary at all. The Saturday, October 17 Dear Editor: introduction of a new ferry that will only serve the Tsawwassen Salt Spring Vineyards Annual Grape Stomp and Oysterfest—all Carbon busters like me know it’s not easy to discuss a neighbour to Gulf Islands run would not seem to require major schedule our wines open; The Oysterman and his fresh shucked oysters; or friend's responsibility to restrict their personal carbon changes for islands that will continue to be served by the current local foods, music lineup, grape stomping and competitions; an emissions. Without pissing them off. After all, don’t people have event not to be missed, 20% case discount sale C 151 Lee Road C vessels if I understand that correctly. I would like some 12-5pm C $5 donation at the doorC 250.653.9463 C SALT SPRING rights? clarification on which vessels will be serving the Swartz Bay to Friday thru Sunday, October 23 to 25 But climate change threatens to destroy our climate and Galiano run and other Gulf Island runs. As you heard loud and Creative Threads Conspiracy—Three-day retreat of workshops society, so do we have the individual right to burn fossil fuels? clear the other night, the current ferry schedule (while perhaps What about our collective right to a safe environment? for all levels of fiber artists; 1 5 teachers, 1 7 needing some tweaking to meet the needs of some) is vastly different classes: quilting, knitting, basketry, I am in my last month of low-carbon travelling in Europe. preferable to island residents that what is being proposed. It felting, wood-carving , bookbinding,dyeing; all- In England I saw a sheep’s parchment in beautiful Salisbury also would have been helpful for you to identify why and where day demo of spinning and weaving by the Magna Carta Cathedral— . This 800-year-old document BC Ferries thinks the proposed schedule meets the specific Denman Weavers’ Guild; Wearable Art Fashion Show C Fri/Sat/Sun: classes all day, catered meals C Each class constrained an individual king’s right to absolute rule, and so objectives you set for this drastic revision, increased direct advanced democracy; climate justice would likewise constrain $10/hr C Info: 250.335.0198 www.creativethreadsconspiracy.com C service and frequency. DENMAN our right to burn fossil fuels, and so heal our planet. Both good A second question (and observation) is why were none of the ideas. BC Ferries reps present able to respond to some of the specific Fast forwarding in history, smokers once felt a right to burn Next Deadline: September 23 LETTERS, please turn to page 8 If you wish you had been reading Island Tides for years—you can! Visit our online archive at www.islandtides.com www.islandtides.com Page 8, Island Tides, September 17, 2015
Photos left to right: Derek Holzapfel, Kristine Mayes, and Mike Riesterer Wasps, frog, and moth; a study in brown.
NEWS SHORTS from page 6 100,000 Syrian Refugees Asian partners, Itochu and LG International Investments, First Nation Wins Water Challenge Retired Senator and Saturna resident Pat Carney has proposed withdrawing from the project. Responding to the latest request by BCEAO for a meeting to In 2012, the first long term water licence issued by the provincial that Canada should be prepared to accept 100,000 Syrian discuss the situation, Ellis wrote: ‘I see little merit in sitting down government in the Horn River Basin for fracking use was issued refugees. Why 100,000? Senator Carney says that, in a way, the with the EAO to review EA options for the Raven Project... We to Nexen Inc. It gave the company the right to pump water from number was for ‘shock value’. She’s right. Canada’s politicians believe that the EAO are not treating the proposed Raven Tsea Lake until 2017. are mostly talking numbers like 20,000; 25,000. Retired Underground Coal Project in a fair and transparent manner and On September 7, the Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) won General Rick Hillier says 50,000. that the project would never be able to achieve an EA certificate in court; they had the licence cancelled. Why? The court said: Four million Syrians have now left Syria. Pope Francis says given the built-in biases in the review process.’ Denman Island’s the company’s water withdrawal scheme was not supported by each parish should adopt a family. There are 25,000 Catholic Sharon Small called the letter a ‘cheap shot.’ scientific theory or adequate data as it was based on incorrect, parishes in Italy. Germany says they’ll take 800,000. Canada so On September 3, Compliance Energy announced that Ellis inadequate, and mistaken factual information and modelling far, maybe 2,300. Maybe not that many. Former senator Pat had stepped down ‘to pursue another opportunity’. results; it rejected the Province’s conclusion that the licence Carney says not to worry so much about the UNHCR certificated Late Run Sockeye May Be Scarce would have no significant environmental impacts: ‘there were refugees; they are ‘prepackaged, pre-approved, sanitized’ major impacts on the lake, fish, beavers, and surrounding ‘Canada has to respond to those people who are walking the Reports from Pacific Salmon Commission test fishing indicate environment.’ said FNFN Chief Liz Logan; the Province had railway tracks.’ Wonder what we could do on the Gulf Islands? very small returns for late run sockeye and Fraser Pinks; well failed to consult FNFN in good faith and had breached its duty Compliance Energy Chief Burns Bridges, Quits below initial estimates. Results of August 28 tests were: Area 12 Blinkhorn: seine, 6 sets: 126 sockeye and 236 Pinks, to consider the potential impacts on FNFN. CEO of Compliance Energy Corporation Stephen Ellis resigned many not Fraser Pinks; Logan continued: ‘By approving this licence, the Province at the beginning of September, but not before sending a Area 13 lower Johnston Strait: seine; 6 sets: 122 sockeye and demonstrated it is not protecting the public interest in water.’ blistering letter to the BC Environmental Assessment Office. 219 Pinks, many not Fraser Pinks; Compliance has spent several years seeking approval from San Juan Bonilla Point: seine, 6 sets; 6 sockeye and 2,777 the BCEAO for the development of the proposed Raven coal Pinks, many are Washington State Pinks. BRING YOUR RECYCLABLES TO US mine, above Fanny Bay. But the clock has now run out on the … It has been suggested that all Fraser River interception application, and the BCEAO may close the file. Ellis blamed the We’ll take anything with a salmon fisheries should be closed. 0 deposit for a full refund. environmental office for bias and delay, resulting in both its Open daily 9am to 6pm LETTERS from previous page sailings that they would typically use. Your stated excuse of concerns raised about the proposed schedule, for example, the limited resources just doesn’t wash (especially given the 250.539.2936 fact that there will no longer be any direct sailings to Galiano number of personnel at last night’s meeting who added nothing from Swartz Bay on Monday to Thursday. This is an immense to the discussion) and makes one wonder if this was in fact not SATURNA GENERAL STORE loss for Galiano, adding significant costs and inconvenience for just neglect of an important constituency but rather a deliberate 101 NARVAEZ BAY ROAD, SATURNA ISLAND island residents and businesses but no one seemed able to and strategic oversight. There may indeed be benefits to respond to this specific complaint. businesses in the proposed new schedule, that I am not aware Surely it would be possible to have among the large group of but that certainly was not revealed at the meeting I attended. Your Dream. Your Style. Your Budget. of BC Ferries staff present, at least one person who is familiar I would also like clarification on the rationale for the pairing enough with the proposed schedule as opposed to the current of islands. Why are Galiano and Saturna, the islands furthest BUILD FOR LESS! schedule for each island, that they could respond to obvious from one another paired? Surely geographic proximity should YOUR NEW HOME questions likely to be raised at such meetings. Frankly, it makes be as important as population? Why is not Galiano paired with starting as low as one wonder if human eyes at BC Ferries have reviewed the Mayne as the populations of these islands are similar and they proposed ‘algorith’ generated schedules since no rationales are side-by-side. Pairing Saturna with Galiano results in much were provided at the meeting. As you were the one who lengthier trips that will be discouraging for all: trades people • Over 30 years of experience requested specificity of concerns from those in attendance in traveling to the islands, residents, visitors, and those Complete$88,474 within as little as 8 weeks • your opening remarks, surely the audience was due an equally considering purchasing property on the islands, further • 30% lower cost than a custon designed home • Many designs to choose from specific response. damaging the economies of the islands. The further erosion of • Financing program available I would also like to know when and how the needs of the inter-island connectivity even beyond the current state was also • Built to code and industry standards business communities on each island will be taken into clearly a concern to many . Further depopulation of rural areas consideration at this point. It was very surprising to hear that like the Southern Gulf Islands, is not in the interests of urban this was not a specific consultation that occurred first as the lives areas, whose infrastructures are already seriously taxed. Act Now of all island residents and visitors are predicated upon the Gulf Islanders are weary of being consulted about their 5% OFF survival of these businesses and they more than anyone, can needs and then having those needs ignored by BC Ferries. I List Price speak to scheduling problems. Conditions Apply Contact us for a no obligation quote... assume the various SGI Ferry Advisory Committees would have 1-866-971-0239 | www.TrafalgarHomes.ca Why are island economies not primary considerations as already expressed all the issues and concerns raised in the they would be were these highway alterations? I know this point various islands' public meetings held this month. Why then, is consistently made by the Ferry Advisory Committees. Surely Land Art Installation were these unsuitable schedules presented at the public CALL FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS it is much easier to solicit input from businesses on the islands meetings? Seems a waste of everyone's time and again raises than the general diverse public who in fact you did survey. The Salt Spring Arts Council announces an open call to artists the question of why our provincial government has turned our and craft people working in a variety of media, to submit Chambers of Commerce could be contacted, surveys specifically ocean highways over to the corporate sector whose primary exhibition proposals for the 2016 season of ArtCraft’s Land Art targeted to businesses could be advertised in local publications, concern is profit at the expense of public service. Installation at Mahon Hall. on the ferries and even placed on vehicles on early morning J Margison, Galiano Island 0 The Council seeks proposals for experimental and innovative landscape art installations that stimulate interest and SHOWCASE GALLERY community engagement in our natural environment, and CALL FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS broaden our perspective to include outdoor spaces in our concept of gallery. Entry is open only to artists living in School The Salt Spring Arts Council announces an open call to Artists District #64 Gulf islands. The Land Art Installations run during and Craft people working in a variety of media, to submit the ArtCraft 2016 season - June to September. exhibition proposals for the 2016 season of ArtCraft’s WinterCraft Showcase Gallery. Entry is open only to artists living in School Annual Christmas Art and Craft Sale -Artists can submit work individually or as part of a group District #64 Gulf islands. The Showcase Gallery exhibits, on the NOVEMBER 27th – DECEMBER 22nd, 2015 -Work must be created to be site specific stage at Mahon Hall, are approximately four weeks long and Call for exhibitors and registration notice -Installations are chosen to reflect innovation, professionalism run during the ArtCraft season - June to September. and quality. -Artists can submit work individually or as part of a group Registration fee: $28.00 – Deadline: November 6th -Thought should be given to the environmental interaction and -Work must be recent - created within the past 2 years - and A valid 2015 Salt Spring Arts Council Membership impact of the installation materials. These materials need to be must not have been exhibited locally or at ArtCraft either on is required. Fee~ $25.00 completely secure in the work. the main floor or at a previous showcase exhibit. Application forms and information can be -The installations will have no negative impact on the site, -Exhibitions are chosen to reflect innovation, professionalism during installation, exhibition or removal. All materials will be and quality. downloaded from the website: removed from the site. -The Artcraft commission rate is 35%. www.ssartscouncil.com. Or, picked up at Mahon -Application Forms can be downloaded on the website -All items entered must be for sale. Hall,114 Rainbow Road in rear mailbox at school -Application Forms can be downloaded on the website www.ssartscouncil.com www.ssartscouncil.com side of building. Please contact Richard Steel: -Or, picked up at Mahon Hall, 114 Rainbow Road at rear office. -Or, picked up at Mahon Hall, 114 Rainbow Road at rear office. [email protected] with any other queries. Proposals must be received by OCTOBER 30th, 2015 Proposals must be received by OCTOBER 30th, 2015 New exhibitors welcome! www.islandtides.com Island Tides, September 17, 2015, Page 9 Comfort Food is a Long Diet Home ust the other day, I was in my neighborhood Brian Crumblehulme Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was omo sapiens are amazingly plastic. It is mind boggling in turn led to the first significant migrations out of Africa. enjoying a chocolaty cafe mocha when it occurred to contemplate the variations in body type, lifestyle, So now we have Pleistocene man, an opportunistic hunter- toJ me that to drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire physical and intellectual capacity and, in this essay, the gatherer, roaming through southwest Asia and into Europe. history of the New World. From the Spanish Hdiet of people around the world. Animals basically eat what is When food was plentiful they exercised a choice. If game was exportation of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of in front of them. They do not have many preferences and they scarce, they ate cooked seeds, grains and tubers. When droughts the chemical process for making cocoa, on down to the do not eat what they do not recognize as food. Cows eat grass, or winter came, they lived off game. In other words, they could capitalist empire of Hershey, PA, and the lifestyle dogs eat meat, bears eat roots, bugs and berries, and worms be vegetarian, carnivorous or omnivorous. marketing of Seattle’s Starbucks, the modern mocha is eat—whatever. (Actually earthworms prefer chocolate.) And so And so it has remained. Inuit and other pre-contact hunter- a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, it was with our ancestors. gatherers were substantially carnivores and to this day some The ape-like creatures that lived in Africa two million plus still are. Whether by limitations in food supply, or by choice, invention, and consumerism served with whipped years ago were vegetarian—they ate leaves and shoots and lived other humans became essentially vegetarian. This ability to cream. —Sarah Vowell in trees, much as gorillas do today. Then came climate change adapt has huge survival potential. The well known Neanderthal Insects and arthropods have a unique bug sugar called and the forests gave way to grasslands and shrubs. Fewer trees people of northern Europe, for example, adapted to living on trehalose, which is not found in plants. These ancestors implied fewer leaves and more grass implied more herbivores. the permafrost during the ice ages. They moved south with the developed a special gene for the production of trehalase, which Homo So a very few early species became omnivorous and ice and followed it back north when it receded centuries later. enabled them to digest creatures with six or more legs. started eating birds, bugs, eggs, small critters and left-over kill Neanderthal people were essentially carnivorous. Hunting in Having a varied diet allows us to grow up (quite literally), as from larger carnivores, as chimpanzees still do. Among the organized groups, they tracked and killed large animals such as a high dairy diet can make us a bit taller. Increased levels of other biological developments that this new life created, canine caribou, ox, bison and mammoth. Just like the Greenland Inuit carbohydrates can provide additional sugars for energy, while and incisor teeth lengthened to facilitate an increased meat diet. today, 95% of the Neanderthal diet came from meat, with a few proteins and fats improve endurance, and so on. The caveat And since they began chewing on wild grasses and seeds, they summer berries thrown in for variety. comes when the lifestyle we lead does not jive with the diet we also developed large grinding molars to ‘mill’ their grain. So for In a fascinating research paper published this month in the choose. The premise of the study by Hardy et al, is that the large Quarterly Review of Biology a long time these versatile creatures survived by means of an , Karen Hardy, et al, did an human brain, which requires 25% of our total carbohydrate omnivorous diet eaten raw. extensive review called ‘The Importance of Dietary intake for its metabolism, is better provided by a higher The earliest direct evidence of the controlled use of fire seems Carbohydrate in Human Evolution’. In addition to the examples carbohydrate diet. In principle, a larger brain demands more Homo erectus to have occurred around 1.6 million years ago at a mentioned above, they cite other episodes of adaptation that energy. Since carbohydrates provide high energy, we get a yet camp site located near Lake Turkana in Kenya. Although useful, are well documented, such as: ‘...dietary co-evolution between bigger brain. The limiting factor in human development, the idea of lighting fires didn’t catch on very much until maybe culture and genes is strongly supported in the case of milk therefore, is finding that balance between sufficient carbs, fats 800,000 years ago in various locations across Africa. At this consumption.’ All young mammals consume milk, after which and proteins for a sedentary, rugged or active life. time we see another shift in early hominid morphology because they are weaned onto a regular adult diet. After which the milk Ezekiel’s formula for bread made from pottage is probably cooked food not only tastes better, it is also more nutritious. digesting enzyme, lactase, is genetically ‘switched off’ and the first vegetarian recipe ever: ‘Also take for yourself wheat, Those pre-fire hominids had large molar and canine teeth becomes redundant. But early Neolithic people in Europe barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel, and powerful jaws to grind away at raw grains. When cooking developed the practice of herding cattle, goats and sheep and and make bread of them.’ (Ch 4, verse 9: from about 700 BCE). eliminated that need, teeth and jaws became smaller again. so created a dairy supplemented diet. Their lactase genes did Conversely, to make Salmon Wellington, assemble the Genetic evidence now suggests that this change co-evolved with not ‘switch off’. A similar cultural change took place across following: a fillet of salmon from China; a packet of frozen puff the production of the starch digesting enzyme present in the central Africa with the herding of zebu cattle. Consequently, pastry from Ontario; a handful of shrimp from Thailand; Fraser saliva: amylase. Non-human primates do not produce amylase people with north European or central African ancestry are able Valley button mushrooms; California shallots; Turkish pine and are far less efficient at digesting starches than we are. This to consume milk and milk products not just as children, but for nuts; farmers’ market garlic & tarragon; wild island watercress change enabled pre-modern humans to become much more their entire life. On the other hand, those people whose (if you can find it); whipping cream from Van Isle; kosher salt efficient at obtaining energy from cooked seeds, grains and ancestors came from other regions remain lactose intolerant as and Indian pepper. roots. So began the paleolithic era of the omnivorous hunter- adults. Goes well with home made Ezekiel bread and perfect for that gatherer. This amazing capacity to change a diet and lifestyle In addition, our very ancient pre-fire hominid forebears ate al fresco dinner on a warm September evening with a bottle of became a huge advantage during ensuing climate changes and what they could gather, including bugs and creeping organisms. Australian pinot noir. 0 LNG BONANZA from page 1 has recently agreed to 25 conditions set out by 300m width of the shipping channel. In order berthed, a clearance of at least 250 metres may Nation, since Chief David Michael Harry and the Squamish First Nation, and has restarted to provide mooring for LNG tankers and room be required. US standards tend to be more his council have resigned. A new election has its work towards environmental approval. to turn them around, Wes-Pac proposes to generous, even to the extent of constant patrols been called for November 2. Chief Don Tom of Wes-Pac Midstream:Tilbury Island, Delta: dredge and maintain a 12-18 hectare harbour by Coast Guard helicopters. In Boston, flight the Tsartlip Nation, who have lands directly This proposal is for a loading dock to be built basin out of the mudflats off Tilbury Island. patterns for the airport are modified for the across the inlet and also at Goldstream— adjacent to the existing Fortis liquefaction Once clear of the Fraser, deepsea LNG tankers passage of LNG tankers. directly to the south of Bamberton—has raised plant and storage facility on Tilbury Island. would reach the ocean via Haro Strait. It is obvious that ‘bubble’ clearances like his objections. Adam Olsen, interim leader of Using an abandoned industrial site south of LNG Tankers Employ Safety these might result in real problems for areas of frequent ferry traffic, or narrow channels. the BC Green Party, says ‘LNG sacrifices the Seaspan jetty on the Fraser River, Wes-Pac ‘Bubbles’ regional economic opportunities for a plans to install facilities to ship LNG, provided Kinder Morgan had proposed a similar In many of the world’s harbours and channels, hypothetical bonanza of LNG revenues to the by Fortis, by tanker and barge to remote scheme for tankers through Haro Strait, but safety and security zones have been mandated provincial government.’ The proposed LNG communities and potentially to Hawaii. No Transport Canada refused, saying that the for LNG tankers, both moving and berthed, in project will chill nearby potential, he feels. new pipelines will be required; Fortis is conflicts with other shipping would be too order to prevent collisions and close-quarters Huu-ay-aht First Nation/Steelhead expanding its peak-shaving liquefaction and great. incidents. These vary considerably, depending LNG: LNG storage facilities nearby in the Geoff Plant’s Involvement plans are for a land-based liquefaction on the amount of sea room available, but tend expectation of serving new markets (including Lawyer and former provincial Attorney plant and ship loading facility at Sarita Bay, to be generous. A typical clearance for a BC Ferries). General Geoff Plant is on the Boards of near Bamfield at the mouth of Alberni Inlet. moving vessel might be 1,000 metres fore and The site would appear to have direct access to Shipping LNG Through the Steelhead and Woodfibre, thus giving him a aft, and 150 metres on each side. When 0 the Pacific, and would therefore have a Gulf Islands hand in three of these proposals. shipping advantage. However, on the west Four of these proposals would involve LNG coast of Vancouver Island it requires pipeline tankers traveling through the Gulf Islands: access; Steelhead apparently plans to connect Malahat, Discovery, Woodfibre, and Wes- it to the same pipeline as the Malahat proposal. Pac. Discovery LNG, Campbell River: The Malahat proposal would have the % Discovery, owned by Quicksilver Resources, greatest impact. In order to reach the site on OFF has purchased the former Elk Falls Pulp & Saanich Inlet, LNG tankers would have to 50 Paper site at Duncan Bay, and plans a land- leave Haro Strait north of Turn Point, and THE COAST based liquefaction plant to process gas from its travel via Swanson Channel and Satellite production facilities in northeast BC. Channel, crossing all Swartz Bay ferry routes. According to the company’s statement, the gas They must, of course, return the same way. will be supplied by a ‘yet undetermined The Woodfibre proposal would see LNG transmission method’. (There is an existing 10” tankers travelling through Howe Sound, pipeline, but the company says it will need a crossing three ferry routes and encountering 36” line.) Quicksilver’s US parent company is considerable recreational vessel traffic, in bankruptcy proceedings and is being crossing more ferry routes off Tsawwassen, delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and then passing through Boundary Pass, All regular passenger fares are 50% off. but the Canadian subsidiary has apparently down Haro Strait, and past Turn Point on been excluded from the US proceedings. their way to sea. Select sailings. All routes. Woodfibre LNG, near Squamish: The Discovery site north of Campbell There’s never been a better time to get on board BC Ferries. Enjoy half price Woodfibre, owned by Indonesian tycoon River is relatively open to shipping, but regular passenger fares on select sailings on all routes. Restrictions apply. seaward access would still involve crossing Sukanto Tanoto’s Pacific Oil & Gas, has MAJOR & MINOR ROUTES: NORTHERN ROUTES: purchased the former Woodfibre Pulp Mill Georgia Strait ferry routes and navigating Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, Inside Passage, Haida Gwaii, Discovery Coast (closed 2006) site on Howe Sound. It plans a Haro Strait. Southern Gulf Islands, Northern Gulf Islands. Connector, Skidegate – Alliford Bay SEPT 8 – OCT 15, SELECT SAILINGS* OCT 1 – 31, ALL SAILINGS** floating liquefaction and ship-loading facility Wes-Pac Plans A Dredged MON – THURS AND SATURDAYS fed by the 52km Eagle Mountain pipeline from Harbour on the Fraser For full details: Coquitlam. The pipeline will be owned and The Wes-Pac proposal, which allows for both Visit bcferries.com or call 1-888-BC FERRY built by Fortis. The plant will use electrical barges and deepsea LNG tankers, involves power supplied by a new BCHydro line. 50% Off promotion is applicable on adult, child, BC Senior, student, and persons with disabilities regular passenger fares. *Major and Minor routes: Offer valid on select significant river navigation with tugs. The sailings September 8 – October 15, 2015, Monday to Thursday and Saturdays on the following routes: Metro Vancouver; Vancouver Island; Sunshine Coast; Southern Gulf Woodfibre has encountered considerable Islands; Northern Gulf Islands, in either direction. Not valid on Thanksgiving Monday, October 12, 2015. **Northern Routes: Offer valid on all sailings October 1 – October 31, beam of the tankers proposed exceeds the 2015, on the following routes: Inside Passage; Haida Gwaii; Discovery Coast Connector; Skidegate – Alliford Bay, in either direction. Experience Card, Resident and Group discounts will be increased to match the promotional discount on promotional sailings. Not applicable for BC Ferries Vacations pre-bundled packages. Limited time offer. local resistance from the Town of Squamish current river limits allowed by Port Metro Other conditions may apply. Please visit bcferries.com for full details on applicable sailings. Coupon is not required to receive the discount. Reg. 48839. and communities bordering Howe Sound. It Vancouver, and their length is close to the C www.islandtides.com
Page 10, Island Tides, September 17, 2015 FEDERAL ELECTION 2015 What Your Candidates Say This edition, Island Tides asks: What is your long term vision for Canada’s international role? Include mulilateral trade and investment agreements (Trans Pacific Partnership and European trade agreement); relationship to major powers (US, China, European Union, Russia, UK); and relationship to minor nations, United Nations, and UN agencies.
Rachel Blaney, North Island-Powell River (NDP) programs have been slashed and we have lost our standing strong human rights, labour and environmental standards. In my work with immigrants I see every day the challenges that with the UN Security Council. I support the NDP plan to Paul Manly, Nanaimo-Ladysmith (Green) people face who have left their home countries for a better life restore aid with a target of 0.7% of GDP and demonstrate real Canada was denied a seat on the UN security council for the in Canada. What I have learned in this work is that Canada leadership in reducing poverty, addressing climate change and first time as a result of the Harper government’s changes to our should be a force for peace and development both here and all achieving nuclear disarmament. International trade is international relations and increasingly aggressive military over the world. What I see instead is that Stephen Harper has important but agreements must be understood by the public, stance. We must restore our international reputation and isolated Canada. Our aid budget has dropped to just 0.24 unlike Harper’s Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations. The return to our proud role as peacekeepers and diplomats. percent of GDP and people here and around the world are voters of Courtenay-Alberni deserve a government that will act Our federal government should not be negotiating or noticing that we are not contributing our fair share. transparently and according to the values we share as a people signing any trade or investment agreements that include I have worked with immigrants who are frantic about their Tim Kane, Saanich Gulf Islands (Liberal) Investor State Dispute Settlement [ISDS] provisions, which families back home and just want to be able to know that they I want to see Canada become again an effective, respected and give foreign corporations the right to sue Canada for loss of are safe. That’s why I am so proud of the efforts of Tom Mulcair generous international citizen—as Justin Trudeau has said, ‘To potential profits and limit the power of our democratically who is working to get more Syrian refugees to Canada and be the country we believe ourselves to be.’ If we form elected governments at all levels. The CETA and TPP demanding diplomatic action instead of Canadian military government, Liberals will immediately accept 25,000 Syrian agreements currently on the table contain these ISDS action in Iraq. refugees and expand our aid program. provisions. These are bad deals for Canadians and deserve far Alicia Cormier, Saanich-Gulf Islands (NDP) If Canada wishes to achieve results abroad, we have to base greater scrutiny. Canada must again be a leader for world peace and our actions on international realities and not merely on The Green Party is the only party opposed to all agreements development and honour our international obligations. pressures from special interests. containing ISDS provisions. We support fair and ethical trade Stephen Harper has militarized foreign policy, cut aid for eight I want to see us restore the spirit of cooperation with the agreements that will help raise health, safety and of Africa’s poorest countries, and reneged on the Kyoto climate US, to rebuild the mutual respect our two nations once had, environmental standards worldwide. agreement. Actions like these cost Canada a UN Security and to see this relationship fits within the broader North Elizabeth May, Saanich-Gulf Islands (Green) Council seat. Harper even chose drug company profits over American context. Liberals will lift the Mexican visa Canada must return to our traditional role as honest broker; a children’s lives by voting down the NDP’s access-to-medicines requirement and take part in a new trilateral summit with the middle power, exercising soft power. We must live up to the bill—a vote Justin Trudeau skipped. US and Mexico. Liberals will also push for the next major step commitment of 0.7% of GDP to overseas development Tom Mulcair is working to get more Syrian refugees to in the history of North American partnership: a Clean Energy assistance and make poverty history. We must return to our Canada, advocates a non-military role in the Middle East, and and Environment Agreement. role as peace keepers and supporters of multilateralism. We will attend the Paris climate talks with aggressive targets and a Frances Litman, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke (Green) can lead a global effort to review and revise all investor-state plan. We’ll reverse Liberal and Conservative cuts to foreign aid Canada should return to its role as peacekeepers and peace- agreements. Only globally can we avoid the devastating and set a timetable to meet the UN target of 0.7 percent of GDP. makers. We should be constructive participants in our global implications of Harper’s ratification of the Canada-China The NDP supports fair trade, but do not support secret community, providing a robust international commitment to Investment Treaty and the hundreds of other investor-state Conservative deals that sign away Canadian sovereignty or our United Nations’ missions and disaster-relief. As defenders of agreements that undermine democracies around the world. agricultural supply management system. human rights, we must support international institutions, and Our diplomatic corps has been disrespected and minimized Randall Garrison, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke (NDP) join other nations in protecting human security. under Stephen Harper. Our capacity to play a leadership role Canada should be a force for peace and development. Stephen We must improve our relationship with the United States. within the United Nations squandered. It is time to turn this Harper has damaged our reputation on an international scale, While Harper has fixated on Keystone, Greens will work with around—starting at the upcoming United Nations climate even costing us a seat on the UN Security Council. Canada's our neighbours on climate, security, trade, tourism, and more. talks—opening only 40 days after the election. With Green aid budget has dropped to just 0.24% GDP. We can do more. Greens supports fair trade that puts sovereignty, human MPs, we can make still lead the negotiations to a successful The images of fleeing and suffering Syrian refugees has rights, and the environment first, not the rights of conclusion. triggered an important conversation in Canada. Tom Mulcair multinational corporations. None of CETA, Canada-China Carrie Powell-Davidson, Courtenay-Alberni (Liberal) is working to get more Syrian refugees to Canada and is FIPA, nor the Trans-Pacific Partnership fit that bill. All these I believe that Canada has a role to play to confront demanding diplomatic action instead of Canadian military deals include investor-state provisions that allow foreign humanitarian crises and security threats in the world but there action in Iraq. corporations to quietly sue the Canadian government for must be a clear mission overall and role for Canada before we The NDP has a plan on climate change, poverty, and changes we make to protect ourselves. deploy our men and women in uniform. nuclear disarmament that will make Canada a leader once Alistair MacGregor, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (NDP) Canada is a trading nation. A Liberal government will again. The NDP has also committed to meet an aid target of I would like to see Canada come away from what has been an expand trade because we know this is good for Canada’s 0.7% GDP. overly-militaristic and aggressive foreign policy; instead I economy. Trade negotiations must be conducted in Stephen Harper has kept Canadians in the dark about would urge our country to return as a force for peace and social consultation without secrecy and must be in the best interests ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The NDP development. on Canadians. supports fair trade, but will never give blind support to an The NDP’s approach to foreign policy is evident in our Divisive and hyper-partisan approaches have damaged our agreement we’ve never seen. Canadians deserve better from measures, such as our access-to-medicines bill, which would relationship with the US. This has resulted in missed their government. have allowed for the export of generic versions of opportunities on economic and environmental issues. A Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (Green) pharmaceuticals to developing countries in order to tackle Liberal government will take measures to restore cooperation Canada’s international reputation has deteriorated significantly serious diseases. which will include speaking with the US President and hosting under the Conservatives. We’ve gone from a respected middle Tom Mulcair’s plan will show leadership on climate change, a trilateral summit with NA partners. power who established United Nations peacekeeping and poverty, and nuclear disarmament. The NDP has committed It is embarrassing that Canada lost our place on the UN working internationally to build co-operation, to an aggressive to reversing foreign aid cuts and setting a timetable to meet aid Security Council in 2010. Liberals will work hard to regain our nation driven by ideology and fear. The Conservatives have targets of 0.7% of GDP, which will insure international goodwill. position on the world stage. sabotaged international efforts around climate change, fisheries Canadians have been kept in the dark on many trade Jo-Ann Roberts, Victoria (Green) management and peace in the Middle East. negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The NDP In the last decade, Canada’s international reputation has The Greens are ready to re-engage internationally, using isn’t opposed to fair trade, but we’ll never give a blank cheque suffered. Where once we were leaders in peacekeeping, organizations like the UN to lessen tensions and enhance or blind support to an agreement we’ve never seen. diplomacy, and environmental stewardship, we are now seen international co-operation in troubled regions and in the Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo-Ladysmith (NDP) as a nation of aggression that puts its own interests ahead of development of effective strategies to address emerging global I want Canada to be a partner for peace and development. that of the global community. My long-term vision for Canada issues such as climate change. Instead, the Harper Conservatives isolated Canada, slashed aid is to once again be a leader in international diplomacy and The TPP, CCIT and CETA are primarily investor protection budgets, and cost us a seat on the UN Security Council. Rather peacekeeping by re-aligning our defense spending to promote agreements that protect foreign investors, guaranteeing their than Harper’s approach of going it alone, I want Canada to disaster assistance and peacekeeping. I believe that we can start profits while impeding or prohibiting Canadian governments work more with the international community, UN and other down this path by reclaiming our traditional role in the UN, by from taking action to protect our national interests, be it to multilateral bodies. ensuring we contribute to the crises of global poverty and protect our environment, tax base or Canadian workers. On Canada needs to re-establish international credibility. A environmental degradation, and by protecting Canadians September 8, Elizabeth May announced in Nanaimo that the NDP government will lead on climate change, poverty, and interests. Multinational trade deals such as FIPA and TPP are Green Party rejects any new investor-state agreements. nuclear disarmament. We’ll target 0.7% of GDP for foreign aid. not in our interest when they remove our sovereignty. We need Gord Johns, Courtenay-Alberni (NDP) The NDP will implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of to be protecting the interests of Canadians as a top priority, Canadians have always been proud of our reputation as Indigenous Peoples. We’ll embrace the UN request that rather than racing to the bottom to attract foreign investment. international peacekeepers and as a safe refuge for those who Canada welcome 9,000 Syrian refugees each year for five years. Brenda Sayers, North Island-Powell River (Green) are displaced by war or tragedy. I support Tom Mulcair’s plan We can do so much better than Harper’s mean-spirited Canada has a proud history as a peacekeeping nation, but in that Canada receive 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, as approach, and we will. recent decades has increasingly favoured aggression and requested by the UN. Our focus must be on a humanitarian Harper’s secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations intervention over diplomacy, peacemaking, and disaster relief. response and diplomacy rather than military actions. Over a can’t be supported. The NDP supports fair trade agreements decade of Conservative government, our international aid that are transparent, defend Canadian interests, and support CANDIDATE ANSWERS, please turn to next page
Island Tides emailed the above question to all contactable electoral district associations and contactable, declared candidates in: Courtenay-Alberni, Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, North Island-Powell River, Saanich-Gulf Islands, Victoria (Rachel Blaney, Alicia Cormier, John Duncan, Randall Garrison, Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi, Gord Johns, Tim Kane, Frances Litman, Shari Lukens, Mark MacDonald, Alistair MacGregor, Sheila Malcolmson, Paul Manly, Maria Manna, Elizabeth May, David Merner, Carrie Powell-Davidson, Murray Rankin, Jo-Ann Roberts, Brenda Sayers, Peter Schwarzhoff, Laura Smith, Glenn Sollitt, Tim Tessier, Cheryl Thomas; Conservative, Liberal, Green and NDP electoral district associations in all ridings above). All received responses are above, and may have been edited for length. All candidates are invited to answer upcoming questions. Next Edition’s Question: How will we get Canada out of the current recession? Should our government be actively involved in leading and managing the economy, or leave improvements to the private sector? Should we aim for austerity, or emphasize infrastructure and basic services to Canadians? www.islandtides.com Island Tides, September 17, 2015, Page 11
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3FFMFDU CANDIDATE ANSWERS, from previous page ELIZABETTH MAY The Green Party will re-establish Canada Tim Tessier, Nanaimo-Ladysmith (Liberal) $BOBEBT)BSEFTU 8PSLJOH .1 among the global leaders in peacekeeping, The last ten years have resulted in the :PVSWPUF:PVS WPJDF JO 0UUBXB poverty alleviation, and international deterioration of Canada’s international "$BOBEB UIBU 8PSLT Togethero th diplomacy. reputation. It is an embarrassment that Resource exploitation has led to a Canada lost our place on the UN Security staggering global wealth gap, causing untold Council in 2010. Canada has a long, proud hardship and extreme poverty in nations tradition of helping those in need throughout throughout Africa, Asia, and South and Central the world. We have expertise in supporting America. nations in crisis with humanitarian aid. We are The Green Party will work to re-align our very supportive of the UN and a Liberal defence spending by increasing the emphasis government will ensure we restore Canada’s on disaster assistance, and shifting our focus important role on the world stage. As National Green Leader, running a coast to coast election away from NATO war missions towards UN A strong government has a duty to its campaign, Elizabeth May puts Saanich-Gulf Islands slands first and will Peacekeeping contributions. We will ensure citizens to make the most of international be in the following All Candidates Meetings: development assistance targets the poorest of opportunities. The Liberal Party supports free Septemberber 14 - Monday - 7 pm m the poor; we will commit to combating global trade agreements like the TPP because they Peninsula Chamber hamber of Commerce and nd ththe Peninsulaa News Review at poverty by working with the UN to invest in create jobs for Canadians and contribute to Parklarkland d Secondary Schoool, NNorth Saanic anic ch sustainable locally-owned businesses in economic growth and long-term prosperity. Septptember 18 - Friday - 7 pm m impoverished regions. The Liberals supports mutually beneficial Brrentwood Bay ResidentsR and nd Rateppayers Assn, 7082 082 Wallaace Drive, Brentwwoood Bay Finally, we will not sell out Canada’s future trade for the success of Canada’s economy, with trade agreements that only benefit other which includes re-energizing cooperation and Septembere 26 6 - Saturday - 1 pm m nations and large corporations. collaboration inside and outside of Canada to Penderen Island nd School GymGy Glenn Sollitt, Courtenay-Alberni (Green) reduce trade and commerce roadblocks SeptS embermber 29 - Tuesdau y - 10:15 am m The Green Party supports fair trade that puts between Canada and other countries. Victctorioria YYouthouth Matters - Reynoldsol SSecondar da y School,oo Saanic ic ch - priority for students sovereignty, human rights, and the Cheryl Thomas, Victoria (Liberal) Septembermb 292 - Tuesdau ay - 2-4 4 pmp environment first and does not support trade After spending ten years in the Middle East, I CanadianC adian Association of Retired Personsers - Shoal Centr re, Sidney agreements that put the rights of multi- have strong opinions about the complete lack national corporations first. of diplomacy that has occurred recently. I feel Septtemberber 29 - Tuesdaay - 7 pm m The Green Party does not support NAFTA, strongly that Canada has to regain its CoCordovvaa Bay Comm mmunity Association - Lochside Element mentaryy,, 1145 45 Royal Oak Drivvee, Saanich FIPAs and the TPP, which allow multi-national credibility on the world stage. Canada used to Octtoberob 1 - Thursday - 10 am corporations to sue governments over laws be known as a compassionate leader in the CFFFAXAXX 1070 Radio that reduce their profits such as world dealing with humanitarian issues. environmental, labour and consumer Canada shouldn’t try to be an enforcer on the OctO oberer 2 - Fridai ay - 6:30 pm BCC SustSu ainnab ble Energyy AssociationA ation - St Paul'sa United Ch huurch,h 2410 Malavieww,, Sidney regulations and limits our government’s will to world stage. We are too small when it comes to enact legislation because they might be population. But we should be at the top of Tier Octoberer 5 - Monday - 2:30 pm m challengeable under these agreements. Two countries, taking a lead in resolving Salt Spring ring Forum - Gulf Island Senior Secondar dary School For the Green Party, a philosophy of conflicts and providing aid. It’s time to regain Octctober 6th - Tuesday - 1 pmp m international cooperation and peacekeeping our position within the UN. International trade MMayne Isla and d Chamber mber of Commercec leads to greater global security. We can seek is absolutely necessary for our economy to new interdependent relationships with grow and we need to ensure that trade FMJ[BCFUINBZDB UXJUUFSDPNTHJHSFFOTGBDFCPPLDPNTHJHSFFOT emerging countries by creating fair economic agreements do not give away our sovereign -PXFS (BOHFT 3PBE t +BNFT 8IJUF #MWE 4JEOFZZ relationships and by promoting human rights powers, especially over our natural resources. Authorized by the Offficialficial AgeAgent t for Elizabeth Ma ay and sustainability. Collaborating on research and development of Canada and the United States share much. alternate energies and medical advancements At the core of our relationship must be a are just two examples of where we should be respectful tone. Together, we should be focusing. Voluntary Subs Make All The capable of advancing shared democratic ideals, and developing continental strategies for Island Tides is funding the publishing Difference! greater peace and security. of this election coverage—please send in voluntary subscriptions. Have You Sent In Yours? www.islandtides.com Page 12, Island Tides, September 17, 2015
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Photo: Bob Estey The last glory of summer; Saturna Beach BBQ.
Pipe Upsays Trans Mountain back Election Thoughts I must admit election issues that surround us to ‘square one’ - Patrick Brown Increasingly are starting to confound us. The economy and job creation— itizen group Pipe Up says that evidence and John J Reed’s direct And new ways to apply taxation— evidence to be submitted by Trans evidence for ‘only those portions where A balanced budget—yes, well hopefully— Mountain replacing evidence these experts relied on Mr Kelly’s And now it seems we need security. prepared by Steven J Kelly essentially evidence’. Yet climate change and the environment C returns the entire Trans Mountain Kinder Morgan characterized this as Evoke a yawn, and seemingly no comment. Pender Island Expansion hearing process to its starting ‘re-filing evidence on a narrow issue’. Pipe Why do our leaders pussyfoot around point, and requests new rounds of Up takes exception to this, citing a list Kayak Adventures A matter too essential and profound? information requests and opportunities provided by Kinder Morgan in an Tours • Rentals • SUP We’d like to know just what they plan to do. for new evidence to respond to Trans appendix to its August 28 letter. Paddle Canada Lessons And if they have begun to think it through; Mountain’s replacement evidence. Pipe Up, Living Oceans, Disc Golf • Electric Bicycles In Canada our thinking’s way behind— Evidence prepared by Kelly for Trans Ecojustice Ask for a Just look what US and China have in mind; Mountain was struck from the record by And take a look at Europe, too, with energy that’s new, the NEB Board when Kelly was Restart And all that budding energy that we must catch up to. appointed to the board at the beginning Says Pipe Up: ‘expunging Mr Kelly’s direct evidence and his response to So what does Harper have in mind that’s prime? of September. The board asked that new 1-855-629-6939 Information Requests from the More of the same, we have to say, this time; evidence be provided. kayakpenderisland.com evidentiary record brings this process But look back at his record, you will say back to square one in respect of each issue ‘Has he done anything right?’ No way! Kelly’s Struck Evidence PIPRC Notice with which Mr Kelly’s evidence deals.’ And as for global-warming—and I say this with a groan— A summary of the many topics included Pipe Up also refers to recent changes Recreation Funding He dealt with it the last six years by leaving it alone! in Steven Kelly’s evidence: in oil demand, and significant reductions Applications for 2015-16 So, looking back, and forwards too, I do not find it strange Netbacks; rail alternatives; excess in crude oil prices, noting correctly that Recreation Grants are due To see the other party leaders advocating change. transportation capacity; market need; Oct 31/15 this has led to massive changes in plans Forms can be obtained from market diversification; Asian premium; * PIPRC folder in Pender Realty or And these pre-election campaigns, though expensive, are the key international demand for oil; input- for future oil sands developments and * online from the PIPRC website To help those party leaders earn the trust of you and me. crd.bc.ca/Penderparks output analysis; crude oil by rail; resulting capital costs. Along with Living Or email [email protected] So now we come to Tom Mulcair, and here it seems to me Oceans Society and Ecojustice, Pipe Up Or [email protected] netback benefits (including heavy The most prime-ministerial candidate is from the NDP. crude); project capital cost; oil price says the Board should: establish two He boosts another child-care program that is plainly new, forecasting; supply and demand; rounds of information requests; permit And tax-relief for small business, a balanced budget, too. Roasting Fancy Coffee markets; oil sands crude density and interveners to file new, additional, or Will he confront the oil-tycoons, and Canada’s pollution, updated evidence to respond to the for mail orders since 1982 type; gross benefit vs cost benefit Or will he think that climate-change does not have a solution? analysis; forecasting; project need; replacement evidenc; and, provide Now Trudeau is a different kind of runner in this race, current market; impact on energy funding for expert reports that respond to And if he lacks experience, his heart’s in the right place; prices for local communities; impact of the replacement evidence. He likes to meet his voters, and in fact he has a ball, oil prices on economic feasibility; Trans Mountain Wants a from Thetis Island to you Kissing babies, and their mothers, making friends with one and all! Western Canada supply; rail capacity; Speed-Up www.potofgoldcoffee.com An interesting platform, with believable intent, California markets. Trans Mountain asks that the NEB Panel No mention of big-oil in it, or the environment. (Appendix A, August 28, 2015.) ‘expedite the remaining procedural steps But there’s another party, and they have a lot to say— required to conclude its review of the On iPad or computer, tune in to Elizabeth May. ‘Brief Report’Responds Project Application’. ‘Specifically,’ The Greens have got a platform, too; it’s highly practical; requests Trans Mountain, ‘the timeline Trans Mountain, replying to this request Their answers are the only ones that make sense overall. for further procedural steps to allow on August 28, stated that Texas To get each Green elected, then, your vote is sorely needed— parties to address this limited new consulting firm Muse Stancil was And I will give a cheer each time a Tory’s superceded! evidence be abridged...’. preparing a ‘brief expert report’ on their H Barry Cotton, September 2015 Kelly’s evidence appears to affect behalf and that this would be filed with much of the economic justification for the the board by September 25. Trans additional pipeline. Is much of it to be 1.888.296.8059 Mountain also undertook to file recycled? 0 www.wintonhomes.ca ‘consequential amendments’ to the Moon Date Conference Board of Canada’s direct You’ll be right at home! Full: September 27 New: October 12 www.islandtides.com